Feeler mechanism for automatic looms.



U. HEBERT.

- FEELER MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATIC LOOMS.

Patented Apr. 29, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEEF I.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 11, 1918.

UBA LD HEBERT, OF MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE, ASSIGNOR TO DRAPER COIQPORATION, OF HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

FEELER MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATIC LOOMS;

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 299, i919.

Application filed May 11, 1918. Serial no. aaszi.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, UBALD HEBERT, a citizen of the United States, residing at anchester, county of Hillsborough, State of New Hampshire, have invented an Improvement in Feeler llechanism for Automatic Looms, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification, like characters on the drawing representing like parts.

This lnvention relates particularly to the feeler mechanism of automatic looms in which the filling carriers are provided with barrels having elongated slots extending parallel to their axes and adapted to receive the feeler point upon substantial exhaustion of the filling upon the fillin carrier and in which upon the entry of the feeler into the slotted barrel of the filling carrier means are actuated to effect a change in the operation of the loom such, for example, as replenishment of the running filling by supplying a fresh filling carrier to the lay.

An automatic filling replenishing loom of a type to which the present invention is peculiarly adapted is disclosed in the patent toW. P. Straw No. 1,150,976 granted August 24, 1915.

In a loom of the type wherein the filling carriers have their barrels provided with elongated slots extending parallel to their axes into which the feeler point is adapted to project when the last layer of filling is unwound the necessity for building a bunch on the filling carrier is avoided and in addition the feeler is permitted a relatively long movement to initiate a change in the operation of the loom thus materially reducing the requirement for accurate adjustment otherwise usually necessary and rendering the mechanism sensitive to actuation upon exhaustion of the filling to a predetermined degree.

The object of the present invention is to provide a feeler mechanism for use in an automatic loom employing the slotted barrel filling carrier in which a multi-point feeler or a feeler provided with a plurality of points is employed and in which these feeler points are distributed in line with and adapted to enter the slot in the filling carrier when boxed at the detecting end of the loom so arranged and operating that upon the entry of either one of the plurality of feeler points into the slot of the barrel of the filling carrier initiation of the desired change in the operation of the loom is accurately efiected. When the change to be effected is the replenishment of the running filling the multi-point feeler mechanism of this invention insures, irrespective of the degree of accuracy with which the end of the filling Winding is laid over the slot in the barrel, such a detection that sufficient filling W1ll remain on the filling carrier after detection to secure continuity of filling in the fabrlc being woven until replenishment is effected, thus preventing thin places or imperfections in the fabric.

These and other objects of the invention will appear more fully from the accompanying description and drawings and will be particularly pointed out in the claims.

The drawings illustrate for the purpose of disclosing a preferred form of the invent1on an automatic filling replenishing loom of the well known Northrop type employing the slotted barrel filling carriers and the general type of feeler or detecting mechanism illustrated in the aforesaid patent to Straw No. 1,150,976.

In the drawings,

Figure l is a plan view of an automatic filling replenishing loom of the type referred to with those parts not particularly involved in the present invention broken away or omitted;

Fig. 2 is a detail in rear elevation of the sh1pper end of the loom showing the feeler and transmitter mechanism;

Fig. 3 is a detail in side elevation partially in vertical cross section showing the relative positions of the latch, vibrating actuator and other cooperating parts;

Fig. 4: is a side elevation of the feeler supporting bracket and the parts carried thereby with the transmitter lever shown in cross section;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the butt end of a slotted barrel bobbin and the feeler points of the multi-point feeler mechanism together with diagrammatic indications of various positions of the winding of the filling upon the fillin'g carrier or bobbin.

In view of the full and complete disclosure, in the aforesaid patent to Straw No. 1,150,97 6, of the construction and operation of that form of automatic filling replenislr ing loom which has been selected for the purpose of disclosing the present invention it will be unnecessary here to describe in detail those features of construction and 0peration not particularly concerned with the present invention.

The loom disclosed comprises a lay 1 having at the shipper end or the detecting end of the loom a shuttle box 2 in which is shown boxed a shuttle 3 carrying a filling carrier or bobbin 1 having an elongated slot 5 in its barrel adjacent to the'butt extending parallel to the axis of the filling carrier or bobbin and adapted to receive the feeler point upon substantial exhaustion of the filling.

The walls of the shuttle and shuttle box are provided with the usual apertures 6 and 7, respectively, opposite the slot 5 in the filling carrier in order to permit the feeler to enter therethrough and feel upon the filling covering the slot in the barrel of the filling carrier.

At the opposite or transfer end of the loom the lay l is provided with a corresponding shuttle'box 8 and the loom frame supports the usual magazine or hopper, onedisk of which is shown at 9 which hopper carries the supply of fresh filling carriers. WVhen filling replenishment is to take place suitable transfer mechanism including as herein shown the transferrer arm 10 is actuated and a fresh filling carrier is forced from the hopper into the shuttle then boxed beneath the hopper in the shuttle box 8 and this fresh filling carrier forces out from the shuttle the substantially exhausted filling carrier and takes its place in the shuttle, all in a manner well known to those familiar with the Northrop type of loom.

Various forms of mechanism may be employed for transmitting the detecting action occurring upon substantial exhaustion of filling in the running filling carrier from the detecting end of the loom to the transfer mechansm. In the form illustrated a transmitter lever having the oppositely ext-ending arms 11 and 12 is fulcrumed on a horizontal pivot 13 011 a lug 14 extending upwardly from the shipper stand 15. This transmitter lever is suitably weighted or counterbalanced at 16 on its shorter arm so that this arm 11 normally tends to swing downwardly or be depressed. The opposite arm 12 of the transmitter is extended rearwardly and upwardly and provided with lugs 17 and 18 embracing some fixed portion of the loom such as the edge 19 of the breast beam. These lugs 17 and 18 limit the rocking or vibrating movement of the transmitter.

A suitable vibrating actuator for which purpose the usual vibrating weft hammer 20 may be utilized is provided at its upper end adjacent the end of the arm 12 of the trans mitter with a horizontally pivoted and forwardly projecting dog 21 and a spring 22 between the dog and the end of the actuator 20 acts to maintain the forward end of the dog depressed. This forward end of the dog is positioned to ride over the end of the arm 12 of the transmitter and the tension of the spring 22 is such that at each forward vibration of the actuator 20 the dog will act to depress the arm 12 of the transmitter and consequently elevate the opposite arm 11. If, however, the end of the arm 11 be prevented from rising and consequently the end of the arm 12 be prevented from being depressed the dog 21 will be elevated or cammed upwardly against the tension of the spring 22 upon the forward vibration of the actuator 20 and the forward end of the dog will come into contact with a notch or shoulder 23 formed on a horizontally extending latch 24 pivoted at 25 to an arm 26 upstanding from the usual controller shaft 27 extending to the transfer mechanism at the opposite end of the loom. Thus it will be seen as fully disclosed in the aforesaid patent to Straw No. 1,150,976 that at each forward vibration of the actuator or weft hammer, if the transmitter be free to move upon its pivot 13 the dog 21 will depress the arm 12 of the transmitter and ride beneath the shoulder 23 of the latch 2-1, while, if the arm 11 of the transmitter be held or locked in a depressed position the dog 21 will be cammed up by the end of the arm 12 of the transmitter and will catch on the shoulder 23 of the latch 24 and, as the weft hammer or actuator continues its forward vibration, will rock the controller shaft 27 and initiate the action of filling replenishment at the transfer end of the loom. The feeler mechanism herein illustrated as embodying a preferred form of the present invention and which controls the action of the transmitter lever is shown in position on the loom in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing and separately in Fig. 1. It comprises a suitable feeler support herein shown as a T-shaped bracket 28 the upright leg 29 of which is slotted at to receive a bolt or set screw 31 by means of which it is secured to the rear vertical. face 32 of the shipper stand. The horizontal head 33 of this bracket 28 has adj ustably secured thereto as by the bolts 341 a separate horizontally extending block 35 vertically slotted in its lower face to form a plurality of parallel adjacent feeler point guiding ways 36 herein shown as three in number. These ways are so spaced, so alined, and so positioned as to come opposite the slot 5 of the filling carrier when the shuttle is boxed at the detecting end of the loom. The feeler points are mounted so that they are distributed in line with and adapted to enter the slot in the boxed filling carrier and are movable toward and from the lay. In the construction illustrated these feeler points slide longitudinally in the longitudi nal' ways 36. The feeler points may be of any desired similar construction. For convenience each feeler point 37 is herein shown as made of a straight wire or metal rod bent at its middle portion to form a depending projection 38 which is conveniently utilized both for securing the rearward projection of the feeler and for controlling the arm 11 of the transmitter. The feeler points slide in the ways 36 and are prevented from twist ing therein by the contact of the projections 38 with the walls of the ways. The feeler points are held in position and guided in the ways by suitable means such as the bolts 39 extending laterally through the block 35.

The feeler points are yieldingly projected rearwardly the extent of this rearward projection being preferably limited as by the bolt 39 contacting with the projection 38, and this yielding movement of the feeler points in the direction of detection is pref erably secured by a single member simultaneously acting against some portion of the feeler such as the depending projections 38. In the construction illustrated this member is shown as a vertically disposed arm 40 provided with a bar 41 extending horizontally therefrom in front of the projections 38. This arm 40 is fulcrumed on the stud 42 in a.rearwardly projecting lug 13 on the leg 29 of the feeler support. Preferably the yielding or pressing action of the arm 40 upon the feeler points is secured by a light helical spring 4% coiled about the stud 42 and having its strength regulated by the rotary adjustment of the collar 45 on the stud 42.

In the form of construction illustrated the feeler points are arranged to cooperate with the arm 11 of the transmitter by having the said arm extend directly beneath the projections 38 when the feeler points are in their rearward projected position and with the arm 11 held depressed by the said projections. It will be apparent therefore that if any one of the plurality of feeler points remains in its rearward projected position the arm 11 of the transmitter will be prevented from rising and consequently through the mechanism already described filling replenishment will be initiated, whereas if all of the plurality of feeler points be pushed forwardly the projections 38 will pass forward of the arm 11 and the arm 11 will be free to rise, when the opposite arm 12 is acted upon by the dog 21.

The operation of the mechanism will now be apparent. The feeler mechanism normally stands in the position illustrated in 4 of the drawings, with the feeler points equally and simultaneously rearwardly pro jected and with the projections 38 directly over the depressed end of the arm 11 of the transmitter. Consequently when the shuttle containing a filling carrier with the slotted barrel is boxed at the detecting end of the loom and the lay beats up if the slot in the barrel is covered with sufficient filling to act upon and project forwardly all of the plurality of feeler points the arm 11 of the transmitter will be free to rise because all of the projections 38 will be carried forwardly away therefrom and no initiation of filling replenishment or other change in the opera tion of the loom will occur. If, however, the filling has been unwound sufi'iciently or is for any reason absent over a portion of the slot in the barrel of the filling carrier opposite any one of the plurality of feeler points then upon the beat up the feeler point opposite the place where the filling is absent will enter the slot in the filling carrier and thus remain in rearwardly projected position. Consequently, while the other feeler points are forwardly projected by contact with the remaining filling the rearwardly projected feeler point will through its pro jection 38 continue to hold the arm 11 of the transmitter depressed and consequently the dog 21 will be cammed up on the elevated end of the arm 12 of the transmitter effecting ignition of filling replenishment or other desired change in the operation of the loom in a manner already described.

An understanding of some of the advantages of the invention may be obtained by referring to Fig. 5 of the drawing which illustrates a relative position of the filling carrier and feeler points when, for example, there are three of the feeler points employed and in which diagrammatic representations of different windings of filling are suggested.

Ordinarily in the winding of the filling upon the filling carrier, such as the bobbin 4, the winding begins at some point as i6 above the wall 47 of the slot in the bobbin and proceeds to a point -18 below the wall 49 of the slot and then continues on the reverse traverse 50. If but one feeler point such as the middle feeler point 37 were employed detection would take place when the traverse 50 had b'sen unwound and the last traverse from the point 48 up to the point 51 had been unwound. Consequently, if the amount of yarn remaining on the bobbin and comprised in that portion of the traverse extending from the point 51 to the pointefi was insuflicient to make the pick or picks occurring prior to replenishment a thin place or imperfection would result in the cloth. The position of the beginning point 46 of the winding depends upon the care with which the spinning operation is performed and may vary considerably, and consequently an insufficient amount of yarn may remain upon thebobbin after detection to provide for the pick or picks occurring before replenishment. With the multi point feeler herein described the danger of this insufficiency is minimized. If, for example, the winding be begun at a point 52 the right hand feeler point 37 will detect as lie":

soon as the filling is unwound to the point thus leaving on the bobbin the filling extending from-the point 53 to the point 52 which would be sufficient. Again if the winding were begun at the point 54 detection would take place at the point 55 by the right hand feeler and the amount of filling remaining would be that from the point 55 to the point 5 L which would be sufficient. Again if for any reason the filling should be wound on the bobbin starting with an opposite traverse and beginning say at the point 56 running to the point 57 back to the point 58 and so on, detection would take place after the yarn had been unwound past the point 58 and at the point 59 by the left hand feeler point 37 thus leaving the filling remaining on the bobbin from the point 59 along to the point 56 which would be amply sufficient.

Thus it will be seen that owing to the fact that the feeler points are distributed in line with the slot and cover to any extent required the length of the slot detection will take place by one or the other of the plurality of feeler points in such a manner as almost invariably to leave sufficient filling remaining on the bobbin to maintain perfection of the fabric before filling replenishment takes place.

Again, it will be seen that if the yarn be of a fine or delicate nature when the winding is reduced so that there is but athin covering of the slot the pressure transmitted by the member 40 to the plurality of feeler points 37 will be divided up sub stantially equally between these feeler points and so will be distributed over a corresponding number of points on the thin wall of filling and thus the danger of undesired penetration of the filling wall be materially minimized.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An automatic loom supplied with filling carriers having barrels provided with elongated slots extending parallel to their axes comprising means for effecting a change in the operation of the loom, a multipoint feeler mounted with its points distributed in line with, and adapted to enter, the slot in a filling carrier when boxed at the detecting end of the loom, and means actuated by or through the entry of either feeler point into said slot for efiecting the operation of? said change effecting means at such a period as to leave sufficient filling remaining upon the filling carrier to maintain continuity of filling in the cloth until the change is effected.

2. An automatic loom supplied with filling carriers having barrels provided with elongated slots extending parallel to their axes comprising means for effectlng a change in the operation of the loom, a multipoint feeler mounted with its points distributed in line with, and adapted to enter, the slot in a filling carrier when boxed at the detecting end of the loom, a. member yieldable in the direction of detection and acting to press the feeler points simultaneously and yieldingly rearwardly, whereby the pressure transmitted by said member to said feeler points is divided between said feeler points and thus distributed over the filling layers covering said slot upon the beat up, and means actuated by or through the entry of either feelcr point into said slot for effecting the operation of said change effecting means at such a period as to leave sufficient filling remaining upon the filling carrier to maintain continuity of filling in the cloth until the change is effected.

An automatic filling replenishing loom supplied with filling carriers having barrels provided with elongated slots extending parallel to their axes comprising means for effecting filling replenishment, a multi-point feeler mounted with its points distributed in line with and adapted to enter the slot in a filling carrier when boxed at the detecting end of the loom, and means actuated by or through the entry of either feeler point into said slot for initiating the actuation of the filling replenishing mechanism at such a period as to leave sufficient filling remainin upon the filling carrier to maintain continuity of filling in the cloth until filling replenislnnent takes place.

4. An automatic weft replenishing loom supplied with filling carriers having barrels provided with elongated slots extending parallel to their axes comprising means for effecting filling replenishment, a multi-point feeler mounted with its points distributed in line with, and adapted to enter, the slot in a filling carrier when boxed at the detecting end of the loom, a transmitter extending adjacent the said feeler points and held against actuating movement by either feeler point when in rearwardly projected position, and means for effecting the actuation of the filling replenishing movements by or through the non-actuation of the said transmitter whereby the entry of either feeler point into said slot effects the operation of the filling replenishing mechanism at such a period as to leave sufficient filling remaining upon the filling carrier to maintain continuity of filling in the cloth until filling replenishment takes place.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

UBALD HEBERT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). 0. 

